Single trigger mechanism for double-barrelled shotguns



Oct. 25, 1966 H. E. HEITER 3,280,494

SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM FOR DOUBLE-BARRELLED SHOTGUNS Filed July 19, 1965 HARRY E. HEITER BY *m HI ATTORNEY United States Patent Utah Filed July 19, 1965, Ser. No. 473,049 Claims. (CI. 42-42) The present invention relates to multiple barreled guns, such as double-barreled shotguns, which accomplishes firing of both barrels by means of a single trigger, and, more particularly, to a new and improved firing mechanism for such a gun wherein, after firing the barrel selected for the first shot, the second barrel is automatically prepared by mechanical means for firing the next time the trigger is pulled, this without dependence upon recoil of the gun; wherein in case of misfire of the first barrel, the second barrel is prepared by mechanical means for firing the next time the trigger is pulled; and finally, wherein double firing and other malfunctions which sometimes occur are avoided.

In the past, many types of multiple-barreled gun designs have been used which incorporate in their firing mechanisms a single trigger means, inertia block, timing device, recoil mechanism, and a mechanical means for setting of the second shot, in combination with other structure, for effecting sequential firing of barrels by successive depressions of the single trigger of the gun action used. Such firing mechanism generally include the above-mentioned devices and rely upon same, that is on its return to initial position, in order to place the gun action to advantage in a condition for the second firing. One disadvantage inherent in actions using simply an inertia block, timing device and recoil mechanism is that if misfiring should occur on the first shot, the action is not prepared for the second shot. Additionally, insuf ficient recoil on the first shot of the gun means will not prepare the mechanism for the second shot. Finally, in the conventional single-trigger, double-barrelled guns, there is a great chance of double-fire, even though the trigger is depressed just once.

Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide an improvement in plural barreled, single trigger guns wherein the improvement avoids the occurences of deficiencies as above outline.

A further object of the invention is to provide in an inertia block-containing action a certain connector spring which holds the inertia block structure to the rear position thereof upon recoil in order to prepare the gun for effective second firing.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a single trigger gun a certain connector spring which holds the connector structure of the gun to the rear position thereof upon recoil, until trigger is released; then the connector structure is designed into position for effective second firing. (In case of misfiring of the first barrel, the connector spring will also hold the connector structure to the rear position thereof and, upon release of the trigger, will disengage the first sear and position the connector structure under the second sear for firing next barrel.)

An additional object of the invention is to provide for a multiple-barreled, single-trigger gun action a retaining means whereby double fires cannot occur and misfires on a first shot do not preclude conditioning the action for a second shot.

The features of the persent invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with 3',Z8il,i94 Patented Oct. 25, 1966 further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of an inertia-block containing gun-action incorporating the principles of the present invention; for convenience of illustration certain parts are broken away and shown in section; additionally, the two hammers used are in line as are their sears, but one of the mainsprings and its guide relative to the outermost hammer (nearest the viewers) are removed for purposes of clarity.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, horizontal section along the line 22 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged horizontal section looking downwardly and is taken along the line 33 in FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view of the central operating portion of the action of FIGURE 1, taken at a condition at which the trigger has just been depressed so as to release the hammer nearest the viewer for firing the first barrel of the piece; for convenience of illus tration an outwardly pointing lug 28 is cut away to show the opposite lug 28' on the opposite side of the associated connector.

FIGURE 5 is a view of that portion of the firing mechanism shown in FIGURE 4 wherein initial trigger depression has partially been released, illustrating with particularity release of the first sear and that the connector spring employed retains the inertia block and connector rearwardly in preparation for the subsequent firing of the piece.

FIGURE 6 is similar to FIGURE 5 and is partially cut away (to show opposite connector lug 28'), indicating a return of the trigger to a normal position in preparation for a subsequent firing of the piece. The downward movement of the trigger enable a forward movement of the inertia block and connector so that the outwardly protruding lug 28' of the connector engages the tailpiece of the remaining sear; thus, upon subsequent depression of the trigger this remaining tailpiece is raised by said lug, thereby disengaging the sear tooth from the sear notch of the associated hammer so as to release this hammer, to accomplish the second firing.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the connector spring utilized in the present invention; in this figure the connector spring is shown abutting a connector pin which is also utilized.

For purposes of utility, clarity and example of positive application, the included drawings show this mechanism installed in an inertia block containing gun mechanism such as described, for example, in United States Patent No. 2,203,378, which is fully incorporated herein by way of reference. It is seen that this device will perform its function not only in an inertia block mechanism but also in a mechanism without an inertia block, as well as in any other single trigger mechanism.

In the drawings the frame 10 of firing mechanism 11 includes a pair of vertically-spaced, rearwardly-extending portions 13 and 14, which retain therebetween tang piece 15 in a conventional manner. Tang piece 15 includes a pair of mainspring guide bosses 16 disposed on opposite sides of central portion 17 the latter of which is provided with a threaded bore 18 receiving connector spring-retainer screw 19. The latter engages the loopedend portion 20 of connector spring 21. It is the inclusion of connector spring 21 in combination with its retainer, i.e., screw 19, which forms the essence of the present invention. As seen in FIGURE 7, in addition to including the retainer-end B (fitting into retainer bore E) and looped-end portion or mounting portion 20, the connector spring 21 also includes a medial shank 22, a doubled-back portion 23, and a convex, rearwardly-facing cam portion 24. See (FIGURE 7). Cam portion 24 engages connector pin 25 which is also newly included in the invention and which extends transversely from but is fixedly connected to the connector 26 proper. In other respects the connector 26 remains the same as in conventional firearms. The same includes, on both sides, transversely-extending lugs 28 (for respective sear engagement) and 28', and is received in a slot 29 of inertia block 30. The lower extremity 31 of connector 26 includes a trigger piston rivet 32 for pivotally retaining in place the trigger piston 33 in the conventional manner. Trigger piston 33 is backed by a compression spring 34 which abuts trigger shoulder or surface 35 in a conventional manner. Shoulder 35 of the trigger 36 is formed between a pair of opposite, upwardly-extending sides 37.

Disposed between and through the trigger sides 37 is a pin 37, shown for convenience illustration solely in FIG- URE 1; pin 37 serves as a fulcrum for connector 26 so that the connectors upper portion (above pin 37') is urged forwardly under the spring bias of compression spring 34 (see FIGURES 1 and 3). The trigger itself is pivoted to the frame 10 by trigger pivot pin 38.

Frame 10 includes conventional bores 39 and 40 for receving upper and lower firing pin means 41 and 42, respectively.

Sear 4-3 is pivoted by sear pivot pin 44 to frame 10 and includes a hardened sear tooth 45 and a rearwardly-extending sear tailpiece 46. In fact, the gun action will include a pair of sears coaXially aligned (as shown in FIG. 1) upon sear pivot pin 44, with the sear 43 closest to the viewer (the remaining sear is designated as 43') being engaged with sear notch 48 of hammer 49. A corresponding sear 43' is positioned exactly in line with and beneath sear 43, with the corresponding sear 43 engaging notch 48 of hammer 49' as shown in FIGURE 4. correspondingly, in the condition shown in FIGURE 1 the sear tailpiece 46 of outermost sear 43 engages connector thrust shoulder 50 which is upwardly facing as shown in FIGURE 1. The remaining sear tailpiece 46 of sear 43 is disengaged from the connector 26, inertia block 30 assembly and, specifically, connector 26; really, the remaining hammer 49' is held in firing position by the engagement of sear tooth 45 with corresponding sear notch 48' of hammer 49'. The two hammers 49 and 49' in FIGURE 1 are of course pivoted by pin to frame 10 and are selectively urged toward upper and lower firing pins 41 and 42, respectively, on the release of the hammers, as hereinafter described, and in accordance with the compression of the two mainsprings 56 and 56'. The respective mainsprings 56 and 56' accommodating hammers 49 and 49 are respectively mounted upon mainspring guides 57 and 57 in a conventional manner, seating into respective recesses 58 associated with tang bores 5?. Each of the mainspring guides includes a retainer head 60 and a thrust point 61 which itself is received into recess 62 of each of the hammers. The action of the hammers, the mainspring guides and mainsprings is conventional. The conventional, longitudinally and laterally movable safety and firing order selector 63 is included and, to position laterally the connector shoulder 50 to engage a selected sear, selectively engages conventional closed-ended stop 64 of inertia block 30, or an appropriate alternate construction, in a conventional manner.

The cocking mechanism for cocking the hammers is strictly conventional in the art and forms no part of the present invention. Likewise, the breech-opening lever L and its operation is strictly conventional in which, once the same actuated, the stock is pivotally displaced downwardly relative to the barrel of the gun (not shown) until both hammers are in cocking position as shown in FIG- URE 1.

The operation of the firing mechanism or gun action is illustrated in the progression of FIGURE 1 through the conditions shown in FIGURE 4, FIGURE 5, and FIG- URE 6, respectively.

In FIGURE 1 both hammers 49 and 49' are cocked. Upon the initial depression upwardly of trigger 36, connector 26 is caused to proceed upwardly, through its usual connection with trigger piston rivet 32, so that the thrust shoulder 50 pushes upwardly upon sear tailpiece 46 to cause the latter to become rotationally displaced in a clockwise direction about sear pivot pin 44. This action releases sear tooth 45 from sear notch 4-8 of hammer 49,

causing hammer 49 to proceed forwardly to strike lower firing pin 42. Specifically, FIGURE 4 illustrates this condition as the trigger has been depressed to release the hammer 49 in the direction to strike firing pin 42. Upon firing, the gun recoils in a direction reversed to the direction of firing depressing the shoulder of the shooter. As the recoil force is expended the gun rebounds from the shooters shoulder in the direction of firing, causing the inertia block 30 to be displaced rearwardly in relation to frame 10 and thereby releasing sear tailpiece 46 of sear 43 from thrust shoulder 50 of connector 26. This is the condition illustrated in FIGURE 5. It is noted, however, that at this juncture the inertia block is precluded from bouncing through recoil forwardly (which might otherwise engage sear 43 so as to release hammer 49' and cause a double-firing) by the action of pin 25 upon cam 7 surface 24 until the trigger is released.

It is noted that the present invention, by the inclusion of connector spring 21, prevents the inertia block and connector combination, during recoil, from bouncing forwardly to deleteriously engage sear 43' until trigger 36 has been formally released by the finger (to be urged downwardly under the pressure of compression spring 34) in preparation for a subsequent firing of the gun. Hence, the connector spring 21 effectively keeps the connector and inertia block, if used, out of the way of sear tailpiece 46' of sear 43' until trigger release is finally accomplished.

The above discussion has been related largely to the accomplishment of the present invention in avoiding malfunctions such as double-firing, wherein the inertia of inertia block 30 comes into play. If on the other hand, the first shot misfires, or if recoil is insufficient to activate the inertia block, or in a mechanism without an inertia block, the sequence is this: In FIGURE 4 the trigger 36 is depressed, connector 26 has released sear 43 from hamrner 49. The friction of thrust shoulder 50 on sear tailpiece 46, due to the upward force of the former thereon, prevents connector spring 21 acting on pin 25 through camming surface 24 from forcing connector 26 to the rear, thus releasing the tailpiece 46 of sear 43. As the trigger is released (FIGURE 5), allowing connector 26 to start its downward motion, the force of shoulder 56 on tailpiece 46 is released and connector 26 is immediately forced to the rear by spring 21, releasing sear 43 so that it may pivot downward. As the trigger continues to pivot and connector 26 continues downward, pin 25 effectively drops down and slides down forwardly-directed cam portion 24 so as to permit lug 28' (aligned with lug 28 but on the opposite side of connector 26) to engage the remaining over-toggled sear tailpiece 46' in preparation for the second firing. This is the condition shown in FIG- URE 6. At this juncture, the person using the gun simply depresses the single trigger 36 to accomplish the second firing of the gun. Thus, the subsequent depression of trigger 36 is accomplished through the elevation of lug 28 of connector 26 through the upward pivotal displacement of trigger 36, this so as to lift upwardly upon sear tailpiece 46 so as to release sear tooth 45' from sear notch 48' of hammer 49'. At this juncture the firing is complete.

As is well understood in the art, the selector 63 may be repositioned laterally in a conventional manner and by conventional construction to reverse the order of firing.

In the above regard this invention keeps the connector from simply riding up and down in engagement with the Sear as would otherwise occur under the conditions of the preceding paragraph.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim of the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a gun firing m'echanism including a frame, a pair of side-by-side disposed, cockable hammers, spring-biased sear means for selectively retaining said hammers in cocked position, trigger means, and forwardly springbiased, connector means disposed rearwardly of said sear means and selectively engaging said sear means for sequentially actuating said sear means to sequentially release said hammers from their cocked condition upon the sequential depressing of said trigger means; an improvement comprising connector spring means engaging said connector means and constructed to spring-bias said connector means rearwardly, during a first-firing depression of said trigger means, in a manner to mechanically retain said connector means in a predetermined positioning thereof so that depression of said trigger means sustains a disengagement of said connector means from said sear means associated with a first hammer, permitting said sear means associated therewith to advance under its own spring bias, said connector means advancing under its own spring bias, during release of said trigger means, for subsequent engagement positioning with respect to the remaining sear means; and means fixedly disposed with respect to said frame for cooperatively engaging said connector spring means.

2. In a gun firing mechanism including a frame, a pair of side-by-side disposed, cockable hammers, forwardly spring-biased sear means for selectively retaining said hammers in cocked position, trigger means, and forwardly spring-biased, elongate connector m'eans disposed rearwardly of said sear means and selectively engaging said sear means for sequentially actuating said sear means to sequentially release said hammers from their cocked conditions upon the sequential depressing of said trigger means, an improvement comprising connector spring means constructed to engage and engaging said connector means in a rearward thrusting engagement in a manner to mechanically retain said connector means rearwardly, during a first-firing depression of said trigger means, so that depression of said trigger means sustains a disengagement of said connector means from said sear means associated with a first of said hammers, immediately subsequent to release of said first hammer, permitting said sear means associated therewith to advance forwardly under its own spring bias, said connector means advancing under its own spring bias, during release of said trigger means, for subsequent engagement positioning with respect to the remaining sear means; and means fixedly disposed with respect to said frame for cooperatively engaging said connector spring means.

3. In a gun firing mechanism including a frame, a pair of side-by-side disposed, cockable hammers, spring-biased sear means for selectively retaining said hammers in cocked position, trigger means, and forwardly springbiased, connector means disposed rearwardly of and selectively engaging said sear means for sequentially actuating said sear means to sequentially releas'e said hammers from their cocked conditions upon the sequential depressing of said trigger means, and inertia block means mounted upon said connector means; an improvement comprising connector spring means engaging the combination of said inertia block means and said connector means in a manner to mechanically retain said connector means in predetermined positioning thereof so that depression of said trigger means sustains a disengagement of said connector means for said sear means associated with a first of said ham mers, immediately subsequent to release of said first hammer, permitting said sear means associated therewith to advance under its own spring bias, said connector means advancing under its own spring bias, during release of said trigger means, for subsequent engagement positioning with respect to the remaining sear means; and means fixedly disposed with respect to said frame for cooperatively engaging said connector spring means.

4. In a gun firing mechanism including a frame, a pair of side-by-side disposed, cockable hammers, forwardly spring-biased sear m'eans for selectively retaining said hammers in cocked position, trigger means, forwardly spring-biased, elongate connector means coupled to said sear means for sequentially releasing said hammers from their cocked conditions upon the sequential depressing of said trigger means, and inertia block means mounted upon said connector means; an improvement comprising connector spring means engaging the combination of said connector means and said inertia block means in a rearward thrusting engagement in a manner to mechanically retain said connector means rearwardly during a first-firing depression of said trigger means, so that depression of said trigger means sustains a disengagement of said connector means from said sear means associated with a first of said hammers, immediately subsequent to release of said first hammer, permitting said sear means associated therewith to advance forwardly under its own spring bias, during release of said trigger means, for subsequent engagement positioning with respect to the remaining sear means; and means fixedly disposed with respect to said frame for cooperatively engaging said connector spring means.

5. In combination, hammers; hammer releasing sears respectively operatively associated therewith; a trigger; connector means pivoted to said trigger and successively engageable with said sears, respectively, upon successive intentional pulls of said trigger, for successively actuating said sears to successively release said hammers to fire; and spring means cooperable with and spring-biasing rearwardly said connector m'eans for preventing engagement thereof with a sear operatively associated with an unreleased one of said hammers until said trigger, when once pulled, is released.

6. In combination, hammers; hammer releasing sears respectively operatively associated ther'ewith; a trigger; connector means coupled to said trigger and successively engageable with said sears, respectively, upon successive intentional pulls of said trigger, for successively actuating said sears to successively release said hammers to fire; and spring means cooperable with said spring-biasing rearwardly said connector means'for preventing engagement thereof with a sear operatively associated with an unreleased one of said hammers until said trigger, when once pulled, is released.

7. In combination, hammers; hammer releasing sears respectively operatively associated therewith; a trigger; connector means coupled to said trigger and successively engageable with said sears, respectively, upon successive intentional pulls of said trigger, for successively actuating said sears to successively release said hammers to fire; and spring means cooperable with and spring-biasing rearwardly said connector means for preventing engagement of said connector means with a sear operatively associated with an unreleased one of said hammers until said trigger, when once pulled, is released.

8. Structure according to claim 7 wherein said connector means is pivoted to said trigger, said connector means includes a pin, and said spring m'eans is anchored at one end and includes a cam portion operatively engageable with said pin.

9. In a gun-firing mechanism including a frame, said frame having plural, firing pin means bores, respective firing pin means disposed in said bores and protruding rearwardly therefrom, plural, cockable hammers respectively aligned with said pin means, means pivoting said hammers for pivotal movement, each of said hammers including sear notch means, plural spring-biased sears pivotally secured to said frame and having respective, depending sear teeth selectively engaging said hammers at said sear notch means when said hammers are cocked, said sears being overtoggled in hammer-cocked condition and including respective, rearwardly-extending tailpieces, a trigger pivoted to said frame, an upstanding, forwardly spring-biased connector pivoted to said trigger, and an inertia block engaging said connector, said connector including an upwardly facing thrust shoulder and laterally extending lug means, said tailpiece of one of said sears being engagable by said thrust shoulder of said connector When one of said hammers is cocked and its sear notch means is engaged with said tooth of said one sear, said tailpiece of one other of said sears being engagable by said lug means of said connector when one other of said hammers is cocked and its sear notch means is engaged with said tooth of said one other scar, and compression spring means backing said hammers for urging the same forwardly upon hammer-release; an improvement comprising a connector spring means engaging said connector in a rearwardly directed thrusting engagement in a manner to overcome inertia block forward recoil inertia and connector spring bias solely while said trigger remains depressed, and means for anchoring said connector spring means to said frame.

19. Structure according to claim 9 wherein said connector includes laterally extending pin means, said connector spring means engaging said pin means.

11. In a gun-firing mechanism including a frame, said frame having plural, firing pin means bores, respective firing pin means disposed in said bores and protruding rearwardly therefrom, plural, cockable hammers respectively aligned with said pin means, means pivoting said hammers for pivotal movement, each of said hammers including sear notch mean-s, plural spring-biased sears pivotally secured to said frame and having respective, depending sear teeth selectively engaging said hammers at said sear notch means when said hammers are cocked, said sears being overtoggled in hammer-cocked condition and including respective, rearwardly-extending tailpieces, a trigger pivoted to said frame, an upstanding, forwardly spring-biased connector pivoted to said trigger, and an inertia block engaging said connector, said connector including an upwardly facing thrust shoulder and laterally extending lug means, said tailpiece of one of said sears being engageable by said thrust shoulder of said connector when one of said hammers is cocked and its sear notch means is engaged with said tooth of said one sear, said tailpiece of one other of said sears being engageable by said lug means of said connector when one other of said hammers is cocked and its sear notch means is engaged with said tooth of said one other sear, and compression spring means backing said hammers for urging same forwardly upon hammer-release; an improvement comprising a connector spring means engaging said connector in a rearwardly directed thrusting engagement in a manner to overcome inertia block forward recoil inertia and connector spring bias solely while said trigger remains depressed, and means for anchoring said connector spring means to said frame, said frame including a tang piece disposed rearwardly of said inertia block, said connector spring means including a mounting portion, a forwardly directed medial portion, and an inverted-S configured end portion contiguous with said medial portion, said inverted S configured end portion providing a rearwardly-facing convex cam portion, said connector including pin means engaging said cam portion throughout all conditions of said firing mechanism.

12. In a gun-firing mechanism including a frame, a pair of side-by-side disposed, cockable hammers, means for retaining said hammers in cocked position, trigger means, forwardly spring-biased, elongate connector means coupled to said trigger means for sequentially releasing said hammers from their cocked conditions upon the sequential depressing of said trigger means, and inertia block means mounted upon said connector means; an imfor retaining said hammers in cocked position, trigger means, forwardly spring-biased, elongate connector means coupled to said trigger means for sequentially releasing said hammers from their cocked conditions upon the sequential depressing of said trigger means, and inertia block means mounted upon said connector means; an improvement comprising connector spring means engaging the combination of said connector means and said inertia block means in a rearward thrusting engagement in a manner to overcome inertia block means forward recoil inertia and connector means spring-bias solely while said trigger means remains depressed, and means anchoring said connector spring means to said frame, said connector means including laterally extending pin means, said connector spring means including a rearwardly-facing, covex cam portion in engagement with said pin means for overcoming inertia block means forward inertia recoil and spring bias of said connector means while said trigger means remains depressed.

14. In a gun firing mechanism including a frame, cockable hammers, sear means for selectively retaining said hammers in cocked position, trigger means, and spring-biased connector means coupled to said trigger means and selectively engaging said sear means for sequentially actuating said sear means to sequentially re lease said hammers from their cocked conditions upon the sequential depressing of said trigger means; an improvement comprising connector spring means engaging said connector means in a manner to mechanically retain said connector means such that depression of said trigger means sustains a disengagement of said connector means from said sear means associatedwith a first of said hammers, immediately subsequent to release of said first hammer, said connector means advancing under its own spring bias, during release of said trigger means, for subsequent engagement positioning with respect to the remaining sear means; and means fixedly disposed with respect to said frame for cooperatively engaging said connector spring means.

15. In combination, hammers; hammer releasing sears respectively operatively associated therewith; a trigger; connector means pivoted to said trigger and successively engageable with said sears, respectively, upon successive intentional pulls of said trigger, for successively actuating said sears to successively release said hammers to fire; and means cooperable with said connector means for preventing engagement thereof with a sear operatively associated with an unreleased one of said hammers until said trigger, when once pulled, is released; and each of said sears, said connector means, and said cooperable means being mutually constructed and arranged such that said connector means remains in engagement with a respective sear until said trigger, when once pulled to fire a respective hammer operatively associated with said respective sear, is released a predetermined degree.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A GUN FIRING MECHANISM INCLUDING A FRAME, A PAIR OF SIDE-BY-SIDE DISPOSED, COCKABLE HAMMERS, SPRING-BIASED SEAR MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY RETAINING SAID HAMMERS IN COCKED POSITION, TRIGGER MEANS, AND FORWARDLY SPRINGBIASED, CONNECTOR MEANS DISPOSED REARWARDLY OF SAID SEAR MEANS AND SELECTIVELY ENGAGING SAID SEAR MEANS FOR SEQUENTIALLY ACTUATING SAID SEAR MEANS TO SEQUENTIALLY RELEASE SAID HAMMERS FROM THEIR COCKED CONDITION UPON THE SEQUENTIAL DEPRESSING OF SAID TRIGGER MEANS AN IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING CONNECTOR SPRING MEANS ENGAGING SAID CONNECTOR MEANS AND CONSTRUCTED TO SPRING-BIAS SAID CONNECTOR MEANS REARWARDLY, DURING A FIRST-FIRING DEPRESSION OF SAID TRIGGER MEANS, IN A MANNER TO MECHANICALLY RETAIN SAID CONNECTOR MEANS IN A PREDETERMINED POSITIONING THEREOF SO THAT DEPRESSION OF SAID TRIGGER MEANS SUSTAINS A DISENGAGEMENT OF SAID CONNECTOR MEANS FROM SAID SEAR MEANS ASSOCIATED WITH A FIRST HAMMER, PERMITTING SAID SEAR MEANS ASSOCIATED THEREWITH TO ADVANCE UNDER ITS OWN SPRING BIAS, SAID CONNECTOR MEANS ADVANCING UNDER ITS OWN SPRING BIAS, DURING RELEASE OF SAID TRIGGER MEANS, FOR SUBSEQUENT ENGAGEMENT POSITIONING WITH RESPECT TO THE REMAINING SEAR MEANS; AND MEANS FIXEDLY DISPOSED WITH RESPECT TO SAID FRAME FOR COOPERATIVELY ENGAGING SAID CONNECTOR SPRING MEANS. 